Hypothesis on Tua's ball velocity due to grip & The Duke | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Hypothesis on Tua's ball velocity due to grip & The Duke

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So I recently watched the clip the Dolphins posted with Tua and Will Smith. During this clip Will asks Tua to teach him how to throw and Tua talks about how he keeps 3 fingers on the laces (which is really rare). I played QB and have larger hands, keeping three fingers on the laces makes no sense to me. Then it got me thinking. In order to keep 3 fingers on the laces your hand needs to move more towards the center of the ball.

Now bare with me...

I've often noticed how Tua looks like he can put serious velocity on slants and shorter hooks but for some reason deeper throws seem to be lacking velocity quite noticeably.

We can all see that in college he seemed to have noticeably more zip on his deep balls.

My hypothesis is this-

In HS/college Tua was able to get away with a unique grip style on the slimmer NCAA approved football. When he needed to move up to The Duke (A ball that's a bit more spherical than college) his grip began to work against him. Since he's basically choking up on the ball to keep 3 fingers on the laces, he's losing velocity on passes that require an upward trajectory. Holding the ball closer to its center point makes it much more difficult to launch a ball deep, especially now with a fatter NFL ball.

So this would explain why he's ripping slants and other routes that don't require much of an upward trajectory and why his deeper passes seem to lose steam and fail to sail as far as they should.


If anyone has a ball around them try picking it up and getting your pinky, ring, and Middle finger on the laces, you'll recognize how much closer to the center of the ball you're holding it at now.

Here's an article for refence you'll notice each of these Qb's grips are further back than Tua's
www.espn.com

Get a grip: How Mahomes, Brady, Lamar and 10 other QBs fling the football

Patrick Mahomes credits his early baseball career. Josh Allen learned by throwing rocks in a dumpster. Big Ben ... never gave it much thought. But the NFL's quarterbacks all have something to say about how they hold the football.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
Tua can't grip big balls? :shrug:

I assumed that his deep passes were affected by if he was able to set his feet and step into the throw or if he had to throw on the run.
 
Your analysis is spot on. Remember vs the Jets when he under-threw the pass to Wilson on the wheel route? If you go back and watch the play it looks like a grip issue to me, once you dissect the play.
 
RastaMan407 said:
Your analysis is spot on. Remember vs the Jets when he under-threw the pass to Wilson on the wheel route? If you go back and watch the play it looks like a grip issue to me, once you dissect the play.
Click to expand...
Tua has one of the largest hands in the NFL at 10 inches. In fact Tua and Herbert have the same size hands and Burrow has a hand size 9 and a half inches.

So he certainly has the hands to grip the ball and if his delivery is the issue on longer passes, he will work on it and get better. Also once they get an OL that can give him time in the pocket to throw deep balls, he will improve.

The pass he threw to Hollins a few weeks ago was a pass that traveled on a line for 50 yards. So I don’t think it’s his grip but the fact he is constantly having to rush his throws in the pocket before he is sacked.
 
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To be clear this has nothing to do with his hand size or ABILITY to grip the ball. I'm just pointing out the grip he's comfortable with potentially being an issue. (highly theoretical might I add)
 
It's an interesting observation.

Since we have seen Tua have success with the deep ball in the past, I'm not sure it's an issue.

Where I've seen some problems is when Tua doesn't set his feet and, essentially, throws flat-footed. There's been a few examples of the ball sailing on him.

I also think there are times when his bold/aggressive nature can work against him. I thought Tua took a lot of chances against the Jets and wasn't as safe with the ball as we've seen in the past.
 
I seen that Will Smith clip and thought the exact same thing when i watched it. Holding the ball more in the middle in my mind makes for a weaker throw but im not an expert.

I'm a bit hopeful that its not a strength issue and that if he can change his grip in an offseason and still have the same accuracy, that he will throw further.
 
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